The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) and the Homewood City school system collaborate to produce Project Heart, or Homewood Educators Accommodating, Reaching and Teaching. The project is a five-year initiative to give teacher's aides and kindergarten to 12th grade teachers the opportunity to gain ESL certification. Teachers may take certification classes while concurrently studying for post-secondary degrees and other ESL certification. The program seeks to raise the quality of the education and teachers available to students. The project also covers costs applied to professional development for Homewood City schools staff members and university faculty in the area local to the Homewood City school system. UAB also collaborates with the Shelby County school system to offer the Shelby Stars project. This is similar to Project Heart, except that teacher support extends to nursery school teachers.
The University of Alabama at Birmingham
901 13th St. S.
Birmingham, AL 35294
205-934-7530
ed.uab.edu
The Idaho State Board of Education underwrites the Grow Your Own Teacher program. The program gives those employed by Idaho school districts the opportunity to earn a college degree in education with qualifications in bilingual or ESL teaching. The program also supports Native American students who intend to focus their careers on school districts where their efforts will affect significant numbers of Native American students. The program awards grants of $3,000 to full-time students, with lesser awards being made to part-time students, depending on the fees they must pay and the number of credits they carry. Students must attend Boise State University, College of Southern Idaho, Idaho State University or Lewis-Clark State College to be eligible for the grant.
Idaho State Board of Education
650 West State St., Room 307
Boise, ID 83702
208-334-2270
boardofed.idaho.gov
Texas Tech University offers Project Teach, or Teacher Education Alliance Collaborative for Higher Education. The program seeks to provide ESL teacher training to educators based in Texas who serve populations that include students with limited proficiency in the English language. The program also makes provisions for ongoing professional development opportunities for ESL teachers. The teach program provides stipend support to students pursuing initial teaching certifications as well as to those studying for supplemental certification at a master's or post-baccalaureate level. Ongoing professional development takes the form of workshops for which stipends are also offered. To qualify for professional development training stipends, teachers must attend at least two Project Teach workshops in a given school year. Stipend amounts are unspecified and depend on the amount of funding available to the project. Project Teach benefits also include access to instructional resources and opportunities to communicate online with other teachers and mentoring.
Texas Tech University
2500 Broadway
Lubbock, TX 79409
806-742-2011
educ.ttu.edu